Grizzly Bear Viewing - May 15 to
September 20, 2010 Telegraph Cove to Glendale Cove, Knight
Inlet
. Photo
courtesy of Sarah and Coy
$288 Canadian
Dollar per Adult, including tax; $200 per Child age 8 to 14
years
Tour is not appropriate
for younger children.
Boat is enclosed
and heated with toilet on board. Lunch, snack and beverage
included.
Enjoy the majesty
of the coastal mountains as you explore spectacular Knight
Inlet to find grizzly bears in the spring. As the snow
melts, both black and grizzly bears emerge from their hibernation
dens on the mountain slopes.
This
tour departs
at 7 AM and returns 4 PM. Hungry bears make their way down
to feed on the spring sedge grasses in the river lowlands.
Sedges have 20% vegetable protein value, enough to sustain
the bears. At
low tide the bears feed along the inlet beaches, eating seaweed
and turning over rocks to find crabs, barnacles and mussels.
Many of the young bears are blond in the spring. Bears are
conserving energy this time of the year. They get up late,
and take siestas when ever they feel safe.
Late
May to mid June is the mating season with lots of interesting
interaction. The big boars chase the not-too-interested females,
displacing other bears along the beach. Certainly this
is a favorite time of the viewing season. You
will view the bears from the safety and comfort of the boat.
On some tides the tour company will use their flat bottom
skiff to get into the shallows. Please bring a good
pair of binoculars.
Mid
July is the season of cubs scrambling along behind their
mom as they first explore their wilderness home. Mom is very
protective of her cubs as she teaches them bear survival.
By
mid August and into September the salmon are running at
the river mouth. The bears are chasing the fish around in
the low tide pools, eating salmon carcasses and digging for
rice root. The viewing skiff is right in the river.
As the tide rises, the tour boat drifts up the river into
the West Coast rainforest listening for any bear in
the bush feasting on Salmon. By wearing polarized sun glasses
you can see schools of salmon massing to head up river to
the spawning channels. Eagles dive down to snatch salmon,
bears charge around like horses chasing fish up onto a gravel
bar.
Watch
grizzlies at the river mouth flats on youtube: Click
Here
E-mail
Us about experiencing a
true West Coast rainforest experience!
|
